Arkansas Plantation Politics - Plantation Master Beebe Speaks Out

By Bill Smith, Ozark Guru: In November,  "We The People" conservative patriots in Arkansas sent a message to Little Rock politicians.  The message: The days of Arkansas Plantation Politics were numbered.  Unfortunately, many establishment politicians refused the message.  Under "plantation politics,"  a "master" is required.   In Arkansas, that position is occupied by the most influential Democrat, Governor Mike Beebe. In the past few weeks, as he wielded power and influence in his usual manner,  it has become noticeable evident that he is frustrated by numerous newly elected legislators who choose to represent their constituents verses making backroom deals or yielding to the pressure by the governor. In the article that follows, the author used the term "ruler" verses plantation master.  She said:

So what really is the difference between rulers and representatives? Maybe the biggest and most profound difference that hits oh so close to home is that rulers insinuate things like only their ideas will work and everyone else should just go along to get along. Representatives, on the other hand, continually look for ways to aide those that elected them.

In Arkansas, hope burns bright for representative government. Growing numbers of Arkansans are refusing to turn from their commitment to conservative values. While formulating positions on numerous issues and responding to the politics of Little Rock, they note that the Governor does not represent them when acting as a master or ruler.

Fortunately, the days of plantation politics are waning but not fast enough for an awakened citizenry who are also not interested in exchanging political labels in lieu of ending politics as usual. Arkansans want the size of government programs reduced and streamlined and some programs or processes ended. They want the full restoration of their rights and very limited government access to their property and resources. As the legal owners of their property, they do not want their state or the federal governments taking and redistributing their property and wealth to others. They are very concerned that the Governor and others in Little Rock have refused or failed to protect the rights and independent actions of Arkansas as a sovereign State under the 10th Amendment of the US Constitution.

Governor Mike Beebe would be wise in his final term of office to cease all aspects of "plantation politics" and to become the chief servant of the people of Arkansas. He should cease all efforts to control the people or their elected representatives. The days of the Clintons are past! For the welfare of Arkansans, Gov. Beebe should lead in standing for Arkansans against the attacks of Federal progressive socialism.

ICYMI: Mike Beebe On Tax Cuts: 'Everybody's Got To Be Responsible'
By Elizabeth Almond: So what really is the difference between rulers and representatives? Maybe the biggest and most profound difference that hits oh so close to home is that rulers insinuate things like only their ideas will work and everyone else should just go along to get along. Representatives, on the other hand, continually look for ways to aide those that elected them.

In Arkansas, we have such an example. In an article featured in Arkansas Business, Governor Beebe seems to imply that because those pesky Representatives want to give the people what they want (i.e. tax cuts and the chance to make Arkansas more competitive in business) he might just let it happen to teach us all a lesson that he knows best.

Essentially our Governor just doesn't get why in the world those pesky Legislators aren't blindly falling in line. Maybe Arkansas Legislators understood the mandate voter's made in November. The voters are, after all, who hired them all in the first place. And maybe - just maybe - the Governor and those of a like mind should be reminded of that.

Mike Beebe On Tax Cuts: 'Everybody's Got To Be Responsible'Arkansas lawmakers recommended cutting taxes on manufacturers' utility bills, capital gains and single parents' income on Tuesday, defying Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe's warning that such cuts would reduce state revenues by $60 million over the next two years and hurt state services.

Beebe said he was considering allowing the tax cuts, if they pass both chambers, to go into law without his signature to force lawmakers to decide which programs to cut to pay for them. "This is not an exercise for somebody to vote to cut taxes and hope that somebody else fixes it for them. Everybody's got to be responsible," Beebe said. "My inclination is probably if that's what they want to do and they want to make the cuts, the only way the people are ever going to know what that really means is to let it happen."

The tax cuts advanced by the House Revenue and Taxation Committee would reduce state revenue by $7.5 million in the fiscal year beginning July 1 and $52.5 million the following fiscal year. They now head to the House for a vote.

The most expensive of the proposals would eliminate the capital gains tax on new investments in Arkansas companies and property. The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration said the proposal would cost the state $44.5 million when it went into effect in the 2012 tax year. State officials have said it would cost $68.5 million annually in the following years.

Rep. Ed Garner, the capital gains tax cut's chief sponsor, said he thinks the state is overstating the revenue impact and officials haven't taken into account jobs he says would be created by cutting the tax. "This puts us in a competitive situation with our surrounding states to move out of this slow economic environment with job growth," said Garner, R-Maumelle.

Garner's proposal had the backing of the state Chamber of Commerce, which also advocated for the cut in the manufacturers' tax on utility bills. Advocates for low-income Arkansans, however, opposed the cut, saying it would benefit only the state's most wealthy. "Do we really want to undermine our ability to serve our most vulnerable citizens at a time we can't afford it?" said Rich Huddleston, executive director of Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. "Now is the wrong time to do this."

The cut on the sales tax manufacturers pay for natural gas and electricity would cost the state $3.8 million in the coming year and $4.2 million the following year, according to the state finance office. It would reduce the rate from 3.25 percent to 2.75 percent. The panel also advanced legislation that would provide tax relief for head of household taxpayers with two or more dependents, a cut that would cost the state $3.7 million the coming fiscal year and $3.8 million the following year.

That proposal is designed to fix a flaw in a 2007 law designed to substantially exempt families with children and incomes below the poverty line from state income taxes. The law did not provide comparable benefits for single parents with two or more children.
Beebe has said there is little room in his proposed $4.6 billion budget for additional tax relief beyond a half-cent cut in the grocery tax that he's proposed for the coming year. His tax cut proposal would cost about $20.8 million.

"I don't know where they want to cut it, but it's going to require some significant cuts because you have to a balanced budget," Beebe said. "We're not going to do like the feds. We're going to live within our means."

The votes signal that lawmakers are prepared to move on the tax cut ideas abounding this year after a slow start to the session, which began Jan. 10. Republican lawmakers in the Democratic-controlled Legislature say they're eyeing part of the increased spending Beebe has included in his proposed budget as an area to cut to pay for their proposed reductions. A Senate panel could take up Beebe's grocery tax cut and a used car tax backed by that chamber's leaders as early as Wednesday.

"They need to be vetted, not only in this committee, but on the House floor and in the Senate. We might as well start the process now," said Rep. Davy Carter, R-Cabot, chairman of the House panel.

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Tags: Arkansas, Governor, Mike Beebe, plantation politics, ruler, Arkansans, citizens, representatives, rights, States rights, To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Arkansas Plantation Taxes

Bill Smith, Editor: While elected officials in Little Rock focus on proposed new legislation, State, County and local governments and numerous agencies squeeze the people of Arkansas either through more taxes or through increased indebtedness to be paid for by future taxes. When too much money is collected in a specific fiscal period (which the norm) is it returned to the taxpayers? No. Do they save the surplus money in a "rainy day fund" to aid in covering unfunded future debt? No. Instead, they follow the insidious "tradition and practice" of dividing the surplus from “General Improvement Funds” between the governor, who gets 50%, and the members of the legislature who get the other 50%. The Governor and the members of the legislature then fund “special” (pet) projects in their voting districts which in turn aids them to remain in office.

While Democrats have controlled Arkansas for over 136 years, they have also been successfully co-opting members of the other political parties when they have been elected. Having controlled for so long, even newly elected conservatives are confronted with this established “tradition and practice.” It appears that having been under the yoke of monetary enslavement for so long, many legislatures are unable to break free from spending excess revenue collections that rightly belongs to the taxpayers – the Arkansas people.

Underlying Arkansas "plantation politics" is excessive taxation of workers and business owners who are forced to fund burdensome governments. When surpluses exist and are spent on new projects, these projects more often than not require continued future support via taxes in order to continue to operate. As a result, government (including higher education) at all levels in Arkansas continues to grow.

The following data provides a basis to relate the excessive tax burden placed on Arkansans as compared to that leveled on residents of other states by their governments. To be fair, we will not look at the big states like New York and California which tax their people less, yes less, than Arkansans per dollar earned. Unfortunately, many of these states practice “continuous spending” via debt. They are traveling another road to economic destruction.

In Arkansas, one of the biggest drains on state revenue is the cost of an expanding higher education system. Most of us would agree we have good institutions of education. However, it also important to provide a favorable environment for people to be employed once they graduate. In the past, stronger economies outside of Arkansas provided employment opportunities for our graduates. We were educating large numbers of people who formerly moved somewhere else to get higher paying jobs. But now, the jobs often sought by Arkansans in other states are drying up. At the same time, the high taxes in Arkansas are stifling both entrepreneurs and corporations from locating to Arkansas.

For this article, pending legislation is ignored except to state that if the plantation politicians have their way, the overall tax burden in Arkansas will not be decreased. To highlight the “excessive" taxation in Arkansas, Arkansas will be compared to the taxation in nine nearby states. The tax data from the following nine states are considered: Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas.

The following is an edited version of a chart from the Military Officers Association of America which compared the 50 States’ combined state/local tax burdens in calendar year 2009. The chart depicts taxes as a percentage of income which is of importance to people deciding where to relocate to after their service in the military. Not depicted in the data is that Arkansas, unlike most states, even taxes military active duty and retirement pay.

The modified chart removed 40 other states to make it easy for the reader to compare Arkansas to the nine nearby states:

Compared to the nine surrounding states, Arkansas has a higher tax burdens both before and after adding Federal taxes. Arkansas ranks as the 3rd highest taxed state (per percentage of income) out of 50 states when all taxes were considered. Delaware and Minnesota were worse. Without Federal taxes, Arkansas still ranked 7th highest in the nation for the burden of State and local taxes on the incomes of people. As noted in the chart, Arkansas has the highest combined tax burden on income regardless of the method of taxation (sales, income taxes, etc.) when compared to the selected neighboring states. And Arkansas even has 15.5% higher tax burden than the U.S. average for all states. It should be obvious, that Arkansas as a taxing problem as well as a spending problem. And, the states that surround Arkansas offer a more favorable base for businesses as well as its citizens.

It should also be noted that the greatest individual tax burden is not born by the very wealthy residing in Arkansas. The very rich do pay a significant total amount of taxes which is far more individually paid by people like Bob working at the local hardware store. However, it is the majority of Arkansans from the middle to lower income levels that bears the greatest individual tax burden on their incomes. While redistribution of wealth should “never” be the focus, it is a fact that the lower income earners in Arkansas are far more enslaved by many different forms of taxation on their incomes.

An awakening of conservatives has been happening in Arkansas, and a limited number of elected officials are not from the older school of "plantation" politics." However, they are still at high risk succumbing to the old established ways of high taxation based on Arkansas’ past history. The present legislative session evidences some faithful conservatives who are fighting an uphill battle. It is time for all Arkansans to say enough is enough. Don't be bought off with pet projects funded in your area or by the rhetoric of the established plantation politicians.

The above data clearly shows that Arkansans are paying an unfair burden of their income to the "governments" for our right to live and work in the Natural State. It is time to both remember and remind others of Arkansas state motto: Regnat Populus - The People Rule!

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Tags: Arkansas, taxes, tax ranking, tax burden, plantation politics To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Destiny Knocks On Arkansas' Big Government Plantation Door

Bill Smith, Editor: I commend the Arkansas Republican legislative members who, as the minority party, challenged Arkansas Plantation Politics which has burdened average Arkansans. The background of this worthy attempt is detailed in the related article presented below.

If Arkansas is going to confront the "enslavement by big government," its consumption of the personal and corporate incomes of Arkansans, and the burden of its by-product "government waste," we need committed conservatives not Obama-lite or McCain-lite to be elected as Arkansas State representatives and senators in November, 2012. As much as I hope for the defeat of Barack Obama in 2012, I hope that awakened Arkansans now see the elected Obama go along, get along Democrats who have supported the efforts of Barack Obama and Mike Beebe.

Gov. Mike Beebe, as the senior elected member of the Arkansas Democrat Party, has willfully led and promoted the efforts of Big Intrusive Government including advocating for implementation of Obamacare. It is not that Arkansas government has not been intrusive before Mike Beebe (who has been a fixture of Big Government for a very long time). However, now, Arkansans have had enough of Government programs consuming their incomes, savings and retirements without equivalent reasonable returns in services. It is primarily elected Arkansas House and Senate Democrats, who are and have been funding and supporting the programs desired by the Governor Beebe . These members have shored up and protected Beebe's efforts. These democrats have  ignored the public or have attempted to persuade their constituents that they are doing their best when in fact they have been unwilling to even give serious consideration to challenging State Government 1) to do more with less especially in today's technological world and 2) to eliminate and / or to consolidate inefficient agencies and departments. Some of them have even openly filed briefs to the Supreme Court supporting Obamacare in Arkansas.

Enough is enough! Today began the week (only one week) in which the citizens have an opportunity to file for elected office to replace these progressive liberal members of the legislature. We also have a unique opportunity which happens once every 10 years: ALL positions of the Arkansas State Senate as well as the State Legislature are up for election. Destiny Knocks On Arkansas' Big Government Plantation Door. I pray that people will seize this opportunity.

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Katherine Vasilos, Communications Director, Republican Party of Arkansas: Democrats in the Arkansas General Assembly are simply unwilling to compromise when it comes to reducing waste, fraud and abuse in state government. Rather than working with legislative Republicans to compromise on a leaner state budget for 2013, Democrats are playing politics with Arkansas jobs by threatening state worker layoffs.

The reality is that Democrats are fearful of Republicans who are bringing new ideas to the political process.

Last week, the GOP proposed a budget that reduces spending in Governor Beebe’s $4.7 billion budget from 3.5 to 3.1 percent – hardly the disaster Democrats want you to think it is. $21 million in spending reductions is absolutely achievable without layoffs, yet Democrats say they are “not willing to give an inch” when it comes to compromise.

When Arkansas families tighten their belts, state agencies need to as well. Battles for efficiency in the way our state spends taxpayer money are battles well-fought for the people of Arkansas.

In fact, on Wednesday a Republican-sponsored bill to cut funding for lawmakers’ dues to the National Conference of State Legislatures and the Council of State Government was voted down by Democratic lawmakers on the Joint Budget Committee. The bill would have saved the state $267,400 by ending this taxpayer-funded perk. It’s clear we need to trim our state budget and it’s even clearer that state lawmakers should start with themselves.

It’s sad to see Arkansas Democrats embracing this type of Washington politics instead of a truly bipartisan budget that will benefit Arkansans by preserving much needed services like Medicaid. If our state can’t find ways to reduce the budget today, where will we find the money to a fund a projected $250 million Medicaid shortfall next year?

By introducing a conservative budget alternative, legislative Republicans have successfully opened up the traditionally Democratic-controlled, behind the scenes state budgeting process to the people of Arkansas. State government should be held accountable to the taxpayers of Arkansas, period.

Take action today! Click here to submit a letter to your local paper thanking Arkansas Republicans for fighting to reduce spending, protect Medicaid and increase transparency.

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Tags: Arkansas, Plantation Politics, Reducing Waste, Protecting Medicaid, Opening Up State Government, Mike Beebe, big government, democrats, recuced government , republicans, legislative members, legislature, media, RPA, Republican Party of Arkansas To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Transparency Shines On Arkansas Plantation Politics

Bill Smith, Editor: The light of transparency is being shined by numerous Arkansas grassroots conservative groups on Arkansas Plantation Politics. In recent weeks, we have noted shocking abuses based on the history of brazen Arkansas Plantation Politics. And these abuses emanated from the Governor's office.

Now even the major statewide newspaper which bears on its masthead the words "Arkansas Democrat" has been forced to take note and has commented on the dalliances of the Arkansas Democrat Governor.

The following referenced press release by the Arkansas Republican Party highlights the situation. Indeed, it must be difficult for the leadership at the Republican Party of Arkansas not to gloat after having seen the numerous unfounded attacks on the newly elected Republican Secretary of State.

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Statewide Editorial Calls Out Democrat
Governor Mike Beebe’s Failed Leadership on
Double Dipping, Shane Broadway Appointment

“IS THIS what Governor Mike Beebe calls transparency in government?”

What’s in a name? Wordgames in state government
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 9/15/11
“…Just how much double-dipping is there in state government? The story by Michael Wickline on the front page of Sunday’s paper reported that at least 4,100 rehired retirees — excuse us, working retirees — can still be found in state government. They cost Arkansas taxpayers a total of $89.4 million in salaries last fiscal year, and $84.1 million in pension payments. Which works out to an average salary of $21,800 a year plus an average annual pension of $20,500. Or a total of some $42,300 a year per employee.

It’s not easy to tell just which double-dippers are drawing just how much from the state treasury. To do that, you’d have to know their top pay grade for 36 months, how many years they put in before “retiring,” and the formula used to calculate their pension benefits.

To do all that, to quote Allen Kerr, a state representative from Little Rock who’s been trying to reform this system for years without much success, “You just about would have to hire a retirement actuary.”

There’s no way to just call up a handy website, type in a name, and find out exactly how much each of these double-dippers is costing you the taxpayer. That would be too simple, too direct, too open. No sense making it easy for the public to find out what its state government is doing—and for whom.

IS THIS what Governor Mike Beebe calls transparency in government? It sounds more like obfuscation in government. Like claiming his choice of a political buddy as director of higher education in Arkansas fulfilled the legal requirement. Really? In its official opinion this week, the state attorney general’s office took a different view, concluding that the director had to be appointed through a search and-select process and have actual experience in higher education. Just as the law says. Who says lawyers can’t see the obvious?

There’s a simple enough solution to the continuing embarrassment and outrage called double-dipping: Just give all these rehired retirees—by whatever name—the same choice so many of us who don’t work for state government have: Either retire and collect benefits or stay on the job and keep collecting a salary. One or the other. Which sounds fair enough. Instead of letting all these rehired retirees do both, that is, doubledip. It’s not the labels that need changing but the system itself.

The state legislature could fix this problem—if it had the will. And if the state had a strong leader instead of a governor who may be for economical government in the abstract, but shows little interest in actually reforming a tricky arrangement that undermines public confidence in state government—and in him.”
Read Full Editorial.

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Tags: Arkansas, Governor, Mike Beebe, double dipping, working retirees, lack of transparency, appinting unqualified buddy, Dept of Education, To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln Makes $1.5 Billion Deal Favoring Whites and Angers Black Farmers

Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln appears desperate for votes in the 2010 Election and in her desperation, she appears to have turned her back on Arkansas black farmers. Lincoln made a $1.5 Billion deal with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. What was the quid pro quo? Black Lawmakers are angry and they and Arkansas black farmers note that the deal was made primarily for white farmers while black farmers are being denied funding for to settle prior suit for discrimination against black farmers. This situation looks like just another example of 136 years of Arkansas Plantation Politics. You can take the girl (Lincoln) off the plantation but we evidential you can't seem to get the plantation out of the girl. Yes - Sen Lincoln is obviously no  girl and as a woman  is fully responsible for her actions and failures to listen to her constituents. She long ago needed to set aside plantation politics.  And, Lincoln definitely did not need to be making deals with the political chief for the Chicago gang at Big "White" House. Background Story from The Hill follows:
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By Alexander Bolton, The Hill: African-American lawmakers are irate that the Obama administration has promised Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) $1.5 billion in farm aid while claiming it can’t pay a landmark legal settlement with black farmers.

Six members of the Congressional Black Caucus wrote to President Obama on Thursday calling on him to find a way to compensate black farmers who suffered discrimination in government loan programs during the 1980s and 1990s. The letter was spurred by behind-the-scenes deal-making in the Senate as part of an effort to pass small-business legislation.

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel promised Lincoln, who sponsored the provision, that the administration would find a way to pay out $1.5 million in disaster assistance to farmers while they wait for programs in the 2008 farm bill to be implemented.

At the same time, the administration has told black farmers it lacks the funds to pay a $1.2 billion agreement they reached with the Department of Agriculture in 1999 to settle the Pigford class-action lawsuit. . . . Members of the black caucus say that if the administration can find $1.5 billion within its administrative funds to pay mostly white farmers in Arkansas and other states, it should be able to pay black farmers who suffered discrimination. “The current hardships experienced by other farmers should not trump hardships placed on African Americans and Native Americans by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the past,” they wrote. . . . [Full Story]

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Tags: Arkansas, Blanche Lincoln, deal, farmers, angers black farmers, Arkansas, plantation politics, Rahm Emanuel, White House To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Arkansas Exploratory Effort Launched

Dr. Bill Smith, Editor: On Monday, I had the privilege of visiting by phone with Bill Wilson, the President of Americans for Limited Government (ALG). We discussed his planned future visit to Arkansas to interact with citizens and potential supporting efforts that could lead to a proposed "Taxpayer Bill of Rights" (TABOR). Below is a press release today by ALG.

April 11, 2012, Fairfax, VA — Americans for Limited Government (ALG), a non-partisan issue advocacy organization, today announced the launch of an exploratory program in Arkansas to determine the feasibility of taxpayer and property rights protection measures for future ballot consideration.

“We have been contacted by dozens of supporters throughout Arkansas asking that we (ALG) support efforts to expand taxpayer protections, enshrine real property rights guarantees and to end the practice of governments using tax money to lobby the public,” said Bill Wilson, ALG President. “After careful consideration, we have decided to investigate the feasibility of such ballot measures in future election cycles.”

Established in 2001, ALG has supported ballot initiatives that put in place the most far reaching property rights protections in the nation, advocated Taxpayer Bill of Rights, and measures to attack corruption in government and end the practice of using tax money to lobbying for more tax money.

Long-time Arkansas reformer and advocate Dr. Ron Bartles, PhD, is working with ALG to test the waters for these important reform measures. “It is my sincere hope that we find the strong citizen support in Arkansas that I believe exists for meaningful reforms and serious protections of our most fundamental rights,” said Dr. Bartles. “Americans for Limited Government has a strong track record of effective, aggressive action. When they get involved, things happen. So, I’m looking forward to working with them on this important project,” concluded Bartles.

“America is at a crossroads,” said Wilson. “Only if citizens in solid, conservative states like Arkansas step forward and take the hard actions necessary can we hope to turn the ship of state around before it is too late. Ron Bartles is a tremendous ally and we are proud to be working with him to establish an effective program for reform in Arkansas.”

Regular readers of ARRA News Service may have noted that I often quote the works and words of the Americans for Limited Government. I have found them to be a working ally in the conservative movement for limited and responsible government, a source of good information and research material, and very open to working with new media conservatives. I look forward to meeting Bill Wilson when he visits Arkansas. I also look forward to learning more from Dr. Ron Bartles on his perspective on needed reform measures in Arkansas.

Arkansas under the leadership of Lt Governor Mark Darr working with the legislature led to State Government implementing an online checkbook for state spending. This is commendable! However, it was only a first in a list many changes needed to protect the taxpayers of Arkansas who are called upon to fund the bills of an expanding Government. Arkansans are already paying too high a burden in taxes, fees, and regulatory costs across the board. Also, the growth of government combined on all levels including education has resulted in "government" being the major employer in Arkansas. The growth of government has spurred on the consumption of our tax dollars and has continued to imitate Washington with the growth of new rules, procedures and regulations and in finding more ways to spend more, to expand influence and thus to increase the burden on the people of Arkansas.

I encourage the Republicans, if they gain control of the Arkansas legislature after the 2012 elections, to not wait but include in their actions critical measures to reign in government spending and to indeed even become the advocates of a Taxpayers Bill of Rights.

And while on this point, it is also time for reform minded elected conservatives to lead in efforts to stop the numerous "traditions and practices" in Little Rock that are a carry-over of plantation politics and a burden to the Arkansas taxpayers. There are too many to list herein. But one general example is the tradition and practice of redistributing 50% the excess generated revenue (the surplus) to the Governor to dole out (spend and secure favors) and the remaining 50% going to members of the legislature to do the same thing but on a smaller level including buying votes back in their districts with "our money." I would suggest while making efforts to roll-back government, surpluses needs to be at a minimum restricted to a tightly controlled "rainy day" fund to address unfunded future liabilities. Then after a period of time, say four years as a discussion point, the surpluses need to be reduced by reducing the actual tax burden on those who pay the taxes and fees (be they individuals, businesses, corporations). Surpluses should not be redistributed to new or existing programs for those whom do not pay taxes and fees. Surpluses need to be eliminated. Start with banning the food tax which is nothing more than a plantation tax for the right of a person to exist in Arkansas.

We welcome Bill Wilson and others from Americans for Limited Government who will be making there way to the Natural State. We also appreciate other organizations like Americans for Prosperity who have aided us and numerous budding local and state think-tank organizations. The more resources "we the people" can muster to roll back local, county and state government especially in areas of fraud, waste, abusive spending and expansion of programs, the better we all will be.

Arkansas Tourism tells the world that Arkansas is a place for "fun affordable family vacations, romantic getaways." But let's dream on - it would be nice for Arkansas to be affordable for young families to live and to be able to work here in the Natural State. It would be nice if Arkansas joined its neighboring states in having no-income taxes. It would be nice for Arkansas to be friendly in attracting new corporations by having in place permanent lower corporate taxes and fees. Welcome to Arkansas ALG President Bill Wilson and all others willing to assist in making the Natural State more welcome not only to others but also to our own citizens.

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Tags: Arkansas, Bill Wilson, ALG, Americans For Limited Government, press release, Taxpayer Bill of Rights, plantation politics, traditions and practices, big government, Welcome to Arkansas To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Democrats Vote For Big Government and Kill Arkansas Health Care Freedom Act

Bill Smith, ARRA Editor: Today, the Arkansas House Committee on Public Health, Welfare and Labor voted to "not pass" Arkansas House Bill 1053. This Bill if it had been enacted into law would have protected Arkansans from being legally "required" to purchase health insurance; in other words, being forced by the Federal and State government to buy a product - health insurance. As previously reported, this bill was co-sponsored by two republicans: Arkansas State Representatives David Meeks and Denny Altes.

This vote in Committee was about killing or advancing to the Arkansas House floor for debate a bill that provided some aspects of limited protection of people's rights to make their own decisions regarding buying healthcare insurance. The democrats that controlled this committee feared that public debate and vote on the floor. The vote was 12-7 to "not pass" the bill out of committee. The vote split down party line with all democrats, except three, voted NO and supporting big government. Two democrats voted Yes and the Chair refused to vote.

This vote is a clear indication of the importance of getting "real" conservatives elected to the Arkansas State House and Senate. It is important for Arkansans to stop trusting in electing democrats who claim to be "Democrat Conservatives." We need to ignore the few morsels tossed on the floor for public consumption. No more "damned morsels." We need people elected who allow us to both earn and keep our own "bread." Arkansas government is "too big" and it continues to prey on its citizens by continued expansion while finding itself entangled and controlled by Washington elites.

The political party that is elected to control local and state government in Arkansas matters! The members of a political party that are in the majority sets the agenda, control the numbers and members assigned to committees, the chairs of the committees, the committees to which bills are sent, and the general influence on the outcome of the votes. Independents and 3rd Parties have little if any voice. The vote below is a clear delineation that while the majority of the other States in the Union oppose Obamacare, Arkansas democrats love or are resigned to accepting this big government progressive program.

As an aside, it is very duplicitous that a majority Arkansas democratic politicians will vote to support progressive policies like Obamacare and other Washington's controls or interference in Arkansas education, health and human services, land and resource rights, and even now mandating how we spend our own money. And, yet these same democratic politicians hide behind the curtain of private conversation and proceed to "demean" President Obama and others in Washington. While the other-hand, the majority of the representatives in the Arkansas Republican Party remain focused on the defeat or roll-back of big government and progressive socialism that is strangling Arkansans.

The vote today in the Arkansas House Committee on Public Health, Welfare and Labor was just another example of Plantation Politics being played out in Arkansas. While conservatives look toward 2012 in hopes of further gains in the number of elected officials, I both encourage and commend all to continue to hold our Arkansas elected officials publicly accountable.

Below is a list of members on the committee and their votes on Arkansas House Bill 1053:

FOR BIG GOVERNMENT Tyler, Linda S. (D-45) - Chair Abstained From Voting Allen, Fred (D-33) - Member NO Gaskill, Billy (D-78) - Member NO Hall, Clark (D-13) - Member NO Hyde, Barry (D-40) - Member NO Leding, Greg (D-92) - Member NO Lovell, Buddy (D-56) - Member NO Pennartz, Tracy (D-65) - Member NO Perry, Mark (D-44) - Member NO Smith, Garry L. (D-7) - Member NO Wagner, Charolette (D-77) - Member NO Wilkins, Butch (D-74) - Member NO Word, James L. (D-16) - Member NO

FOR INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM Woods, Jon (R-93) - Vice Chair YES King, Bryan B. (R-91) - Member YES Lampkin, Sheilla E. (D-10) - Member YES Lea, Andrea (R-68) - Member YES Malone, Stephanie (R-64) - Member YES Mayberry, Andy (R-27) - Member YES Wardlaw, Jeff (D-8) - Member YES

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Tags: Arkansas, US House, House Committee on Public Health, House Bill 1053, obamacare, vote, democrats, plantation politics, Bill Smith, Ozark Guru To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Did Arkansas Governor Put Arkansas Jobs At Risk For Political Gain?

Politically Generated Layoffs?

ARRA News Service - In the past it has been noted that Arkansas has been plagued by "Plantation Politics" for over a hundred years. Arkansas present governor, Mike Beebe (D), has in the past used the terms like "traditions and practices" in an attempt to cover over situations which have come to light with increasing awareness and growing transparency in Arkansas.  The following presented situation again begs questions about the past actions of Mike Beebe.  In this specific situation, did Gov. Beebe before the 2010 elections either attempt to restrict or actually did restrict the truthful reporting of negative facts associated with the projected spending and funding by the Arkansas Commission? Was this another of his Democrat "tradition and practices" used to gain a political advantage? Why was access to to the following referenced information not made available to the Arkansas legislature responsible for the oversight and funding of Arkansas government agencies and commissions?

The below situation was highlighted today in an email by the Republican Party of Arkansas quoted below:

Governor Beebe Puts Arkansas Jobs At Risk For Political Gain,
Ignores State Agency Shortfall For Over A Year

Arkansas Forestry Officer Says Boss Knew of Shortfall
Arkansas Business.Com - By The Associated Press, 12/21/11
LITTLE ROCK - The former chief fiscal officer of the Arkansas Forestry Commission told legislators Tuesday that the agency's chief knew for years about financial problems that led the planned layoff of 36 workers.

The agency announced this month that the workers will be laid off Jan. 13. About 300 people work for the Forestry Commission.

Robert Araiza told a Legislative Council subcommittee Tuesday that state Forester John Shannon told him in 2010 that Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe didn't want any public discussion of a shortfall until after last year's general election and had canceled a meeting commission officials planned to have with forestry professionals.

The Forestry Commission this year has a $4 million shortfall that is being blamed on a drop in timber sales. The shortfall prompted the layoffs.

"It was like they were listening but they weren't hearing me," Araiza said.

Beebe's spokesman Matt DeCample said the governor didn't know how bad the agency's financial problems were and canceled the meeting because it pertained to raising the severance tax on timber. DeCample said Beebe didn't believe the discussion would be productive in the middle of an anti-tax environment.

"It wasn't until this fall that we learned that they were no longer able to operate within their budget," DeCample said. "If we had known (in 2010), we would have addressed it during the session and the budget hearings before the session."

So who is telling the truth? Governor Beebe's spokesperson or the Forestry Commissioner Robert Araiza?

To shed light on the situation, two days before the above cited article, Curtis Coleman, a potential Republican Arkansas gubernatorial candidate in 2012, identified the following in a post on The New South Conservative:

Former Marine sergeant Robert Araiza, often referred to as “sarge” by Forestry Commissioners, had served as the Commission’s chief financial officer until October when he left to work for the Arkansas Department of Career Education’s Rehabilitation Services. Araiza said that he warned the commission for three years of waning revenue that’s leading to the loss of 36 jobs next month.

There are reports that minutes of the Commission’s meetings may contradict Shannon’s testimony to the Committee and confirm Araiza’s report. Documents expected to be made public in tomorrow’s meeting of the ALC Personnel Sub-Committee may show that Shannon knew about the trust funds being used as early as 2008, contradicting his testimony to the Legislature.

The Forestry Commission’s Trust Fund is held in reserve for emergencies, especially to fund outside help and volunteer fire departments in situations where the Commission’s primary resources are inadequate to fight fires. Documents to be released tomorrow may reveal that Shannon told Commissioners on one occasion that contracted air tankers had to be used to fight fires in 2010, saving the lives of volunteer fire fighters, but because trust funds were depleted, GIF funds from the Governor’s office had to be used to pay for the tankers.

A CW Arkansas article and and Fox 16 video related that Former State Forestry Chief Financial Officer Robert Araiza "said he told his superiors -- particularly State Forester John Shannon -- the agency would run out of money from its trust fund if they continued to dip into it. Perhaps if they acknowledged his warnings, dating back to four years ago, he said those 36 laid off workers would have their jobs. 'I did everything I could do. I sounded all of the alarms and pushed all of the buttons,' said Araiza. . . . But Araiza says Shannon ordered no one speak to lawmakers about anything going in the agency."

From the reports so far it seems reasonably evident that the Governor's office knew something about the financial problems at the Arkansas Forest Commission long before the statement by Gov. Beebe's spokesperson. And according to the various reports, Governor Beebe may have put Arkansas Jobs at risk for political gain.

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Tags: Arkansas, Governor, Mike Beebe, Arkansas Forestry Commission, John Shannon, Robert Araiza, Matt DeCample, overspending, underfunding, tradition and practices, Plantation Politics, Curtis Coleman To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Frustrated Arkansans: Asa & Cooper Not Acting Conservative

Editor's Note: Weren't the Republicans in Arkansas supposed to lead us out of Plantation Politics. While we have on occassion seen some favorable changes, there are still some serious Plantation Mentality issues. One is detailed below by Debbie Pelly.

by Debbie Pelley, Contributing Author: To gauge Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson and John Cooper's conservatism all one has to remember is their actions on the Private Option, also called Obamacare Medicaid Expansion.

In Arkansas our governor Asa Hutchinson has changed the name from Private Option to Arkansas Works. Changing names of programs is a well-documented method of the liberals to deceive the people and make them forget objectionable programs. In the educational reforms, for example, we had Restructuring, Goals 2000, then School To Work, No Child Left Behind, and now Obama's Common Core. As a former Arkansas teacher who did town hall meetings on these reforms, I can vouch that they are all basically the same program and allow more government control; of course, Governor Hutchinson hasn't stopped Obama's Common Core either.

Arkansas was one of the only southern states that adopted Obamacare Medicaid Expansion. Missouri, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia all refused to adopt Medicaid Expansion as well as eight other states. Most conservatives hoped Governor Hutchinson would free Arkansas from the Private Option implemented under Democratic governor Mike Beebe, but instead Hutchinson jumped on board and changed the name Private Option to Arkansas Works which deceives the people.

Senator John Cooper ran his campaign on voting against the Private Option, now called Arkansas Works. He either sent out or had organizations to send out several campaign cards opposing the Private Option, and conservative senators and representatives all over the state came to campaign for Cooper based on that stance. However, Cooper quickly changed his tune and supported the Private Option when he got to Little Rock and is pushing all of Gov Hutchinson's agenda and helping push candidates that Hutchinson or his ilk have recruited.

The Private Option changed politics all over Arkansas. Politicians or candidates who openly or privately support the Private Option, aka Arkansas Works, can get all the money they need, and more, for their campaigns from those who profit from Arkansas Works like hospitals, doctors, the medical field, and insurance companies.  Thus adding corruption of politics to our state and the nation.
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Debbie Pelley is Retired Arkansas Teacher of 27 years. She is  a grassroots citizen activist, researcher and writer who advocates for Arkansans and for transparent and limited government. She is a contribution author at the ARRA News Service.

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Tags: Debbie Pelley, Governor Asa Hutchinson, Sen. JohnCooper, Not Acting Conservative, plantation poilitics To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!

136 Years of Plantation Politics Controlling Arkansans

As identified in the below video, "for over for 136 years Arkansas has been ruled by Democrats. Arkansas Democrats feel they own our state. They have brought us Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, higher taxes and wasteful spending. But November is coming." The majority of Arkansans regardless of race, creed, religion or non-religion have suffered under a bondage of those who are supposed to serve but instead use their power and influence to control. The Plantation mentality from over 136 years ago has continued in Arkansas politics.

For much of this 136 years, a significant number of Arkansans were disenfranchised and not treated as equal citizens by the Democrats. Even now, we have forced upon us the memory of the abusive and immoral behavior by a former Democratic Governor each time he returns to Arkansas to promote a fellow Democrat or to support the Obama agenda.

But one of the great offenses by the Democrats has been the continual financial rip off of the people of Arkansas. For years, we were taxed in the name of the public good. But now, an accounting reveals the degree of waste by the Big House (Government) in Little Rock. They have practiced over taxation (political theft) by not returning significant surpluses to those who paid it. Instead, the Democrats perfected the ploy of buying votes via earmarks. They divided up the surplus between the Governor who gets most (half)of the money (after all, he heads the "Big House") and the remainder is divided between the State Senators and Representatives to hand out in their districts thereby influencing people to vote for them. But, the result has been a continual growth of big government with full-time Arkansas state government employment expanding 72% in the last 25 years.

As for Democrats sent to Washington to represent us, sometimes these Democrats represented themselves. For example, consider the farm subsidies pocketed by Rep. Marion Berry and by Senator Blanche Lincoln. In Washington, our Democrat Senators and Representatives have been "lap dogs' for Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. We will consider their voting records another time. For now, consider these key points 1) all 3 of our Democrat Representatives voted for Nancy Peloisi to be Speaker of the House, 2) our 2 Democrat Senators voted for Harry Reid to lead the Senate, and 3) the Democrats sold out by supporting the elitist programs of the East and West Coast and the liberal agenda of Obama, Reid and Pelosi. In reality, they ceased to have a heart for Arkansans.

Arkansans compared to most other States is considered a poor state. We have had enough problems supporting the Democrat programs in Little Rock. We can ill afford or even survive elected Democrats continuing to support the progressive elitist agenda of Reid and Pelosi. While the Democrats have their golden retirements, the rest of us are facing potential servitude under the Obama administration. After having had the Democrats running Arkansas for 136 years, it is critical to change the system by changing both the players and the philosophy. We can begin by electing Republican conservatives to the State offices. And, we must help stop the Obama, Reid, Pelosi take over of America by electing Republicans to Congress in November.
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Below is a recently released video by the Republican Party of Arkansas:

The Video's Script: 136 years ago you could purchase a dozen pairs of Levi’s for $13. 136 years ago Hawaii still had a king. And for 136 years Arkansas has been ruled by Democrats. Arkansas Democrats feel they own our state. They have brought us Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, higher taxes and wasteful spending. But November is coming…

This past weekend, as the Republican Party traveled to Independence Day celebrations in Northeast Arkansas, we ran into some trash talk as candidates from both sides of the aisle gave speeches to residents in Corning, Piggott and Portia. In Piggott, Democrat Congressman Marion Berry stood on stage and declared, “I listened to those earlier speeches by the minority party, and I haven’t heard that much trash since I bought a three dollar radio at the doughboy picnic in 1954.” Click here to watch the video!

Mr. Berry, it’s not trash to talk about the United States Constitution. It’s not trash to talk about lower taxes and smaller government. And it is certainly not trash to talk about what’s wrong with Obama’s liberal agenda, which by the way Congressman Marion Berry supports. The Republican Party of Arkansas wonders if his former Chief of Staff, Chad Causey, who is challenging Republican Rick Crawford, feels the same way…

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Tags: Arkansas, politics, history, Democrats, 136 years, video, 2010 election, Republicans To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Arkansas House Republicans Introduce The SIMPLE Plan

Bill Smith, Editor: After 136 years of plantation politics in Arkansas, the voice of "We The People" is being heard. The rising tide of conservatism in Arkansas is making its impact. The demands for government accountable and transparency, for Big Government be put on a diet and for government waste and spending be reduced have been heard by numerous elected officials With the potential anticipated increases in elected Republicans in the 2012 Elections, the present Republican House leadership has boldly setting forth a road map - their plan for responsible actions.

Today, we note that road map. It was developed by members of the Arkansas House Republican Caucus which anticipates that 2012 voters will make them responsible for the Arkansas State Legislature. They realized that waiting until after the transition will be too late. Therefore, the Republican House Caucus has set forth the parameters within which Republicans will operate for the benefit of Arkansans. They call their plan The SIMPLE Plan. Below is an image depicting The Simple Plan and videos with Republican House leaders detailing their planned actions in working with other elected officials to address the major issues facing Arkansans.

Their playbook, The Simple Plan, is now placed before the public to read. Obviously, this is not usual politics in Arkansas. They and future elected Republicans and hopefully other elected officials will be held accountable for legislative and funding actions within the scope of this plan. I commend the current House Republican Caucus for reaching agreement and setting forth this plan. Arkansans will be watching and holding them accountable in their efforts.

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Arkansas House Republican Caucus: Republicans are committed to fighting for hardworking Arkansans and replacing the status quo in state government with a simple, direct and bipartisan vision. Since 2012 will mark a new era for Arkansas government and politics, this week House Republicans unveiled their “SIMPLE” policy plan to move Arkansas forward.

Spending Reform
Income Tax and Other Tax Reform
Medicaid Sustainability
Protecting Arkansas’ Future
Legal and Regulatory Reform
Education Excellence

Click Image to Enlarge

The Arkansas Republican House Caucus unveiled its SIMPLE Plan for fighting for hardworking Arkansas taxpayers today in the State Capitol Rotunda. Speaking for the others are Arkansas State Representatives Bruce Westerman, Terry Rice, Mark Biviano and Charlie Collins.
Republican Leader Bruce Westerman (Hot Springs):

ARHC SIMPLE PLAN - Rep. Terry Rice

ARHC SIMPLE PLAN - Rep. Mark Biviano

ARHC SIMPLE PLAN - Rep. Charlie Collins

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Tags: Arkansas, State House, Republicans, SIMPLE Plan, taxes, reform, Bruce Westerman, Terry Rice, Mark Biviano and Charlie Collins To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Legislators Pocket Your Money When Lobbyists Buy Their Meals & Drinks

. . . at least under Arkansas' Plantation Politics, what about your state?

by Conduit for Action: When an Arkansas legislator goes to a legislative meeting the legislator is paid for mileage to and from home, a per diem for lodging, and a per diem for meals and incidentals (such as tips and parking) . No receipts required.

The per diem payments are paid for any day the legislator attends a session of the legislature or a legislative meeting. The legislator doesn’t even have to be a member of the committee or task force that is meeting. Legislators living close to Little Rock get reduced disbursements.

Payment for Meals and Incidental
Let’s talk about the payment for meals and incidentals. The federal Meals and Incidental Expenses (M&IE) rate for Little Rock is $59 per day. Arkansas Legislators do not have to have receipts to prove expenses for meals. To qualify for the meals payment, legislators only have to show up at a meeting, no questions asked.

What you may not realize is lobbyists provide many meals for legislators and when a lobbyist provides the freebies legislators get a nice meal and drinks and get to pocket the money you the taxpayer pay for their meals.

Here is the fun part for legislators. There are so many lobbyist-sponsored events during legislative sessions, that on many days legislators can have three very nice meals a day, plus drinks, all paid for by lobbyists. In just seventeen days of dining with the lobbyists a legislator can pocket over $1,000 of tax free state money.

The Arkansas Senate used to keep a running list of lobbyist sponsored events but in recent years they have tried to minimize ridicule by only displaying a few events at a time. In 2015 the legislature was still displaying a long list so here is an example of the list of lobbyist events as it appeared on February 2, 2015.

For some people a few thousand dollars in a year might not look like much, but for others it is a big deal. It is certainly a big deal for the new class of legislators who live off being a politician. Who does this? One example is Representative James Sturch who reported on his Statement of Financial Interest that he had no source of income over $1,000 other than his legislative salary in 2017.

An Amendment to the Constitution proposed by the legislature included a ban on gifts from lobbyists and even prohibited meals and drinks from lobbyists BUT included a huge exception. Lobbyists could keep wining and dining legislators as long as the lobbyist invites a full legislative body (House, Senate, or a committee). This allowed the big lobbyists who can afford it to buy everyone meals and drinks.

Do you care whether there is a financial incentive to get legislators to go to lobbyist events where they can be more reliably lobbied out of the public eye?

Even if you don’t like for legislators to pocket your payment for meals and eat off the lobbyist’s plate, it would be hard to change the law. To repeal the exemption requires either the people propose and pass an amendment to the Arkansas Constitution or the legislature would have to decide to take money out of their pockets by passing a repeal by a 2/3rds vote of both the House and the Senate. Changing Arkansas law to start requiring legislators to provide receipts for expenses would only require a majority vote in each chamber. But this, too, is about as likely as a cow jumping over the moon.

We at Conduit For Action do not have an answer for every ethics issue, but we think you deserve to know how your state government actually operates.
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Conduit for Action promotes freedom and free enterprise policies by effective action that will create a better life for all Arkansas citizens.

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Tags: Plantation Politics, Arkansas, Legislators, Pocket Your Money, Lobbyists, Buy Their Meals & Drinks Conduit for Action To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!

Hog Politics: Blanche Lincoln's Latest Earmark

Bill Smith, Editor: The below referenced article was titled: "Lincoln's Last Earmark" based on a Wall Street Journal article. But in fact, Sen. Lincoln is still in office and may well do more damage in a both the pre-election and post election Lame Duck Session. Thus, this post reflects the title: "Blanche Lincoln's Latest Earmark." Lincoln has become a master at Plantation Politics (helping to enrich those in power) especially when it has come to enriching her own coffers via farm subsidies. I will offer more comments after the following posted article about Lincoln.

by Ted Abram, Freedom Works: Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas has been attempting to change an agriculture insurance law to allow corporate agribusinesses to retroactively extract hundreds of thousands of dollars from the US Treasury.  The total cost is $1.5 billion.

Senator Lincoln is the most endangered Democratic Senator in the upcoming November elections.  Ardently, she has attempted to attach her “earmark” to a series of bills.  The Wall Street Journal reports:

Mrs. Lincoln's claim is preposterous enough that she can't persuade even her fellow Democrats to pony up the cash. First she suggested tapping TARP for the money. When that didn't fly, she tried unsuccessfully to add an earmark to a war funding bill, and then to the small business bill that Congress will take up after Labor Day. Her colleagues keep saying "no."

Ah, but the President must help a collaborator in need.  The WSJ continues:

Enter the White House. In an August 6 letter, deputy budget director Robert L. Nabors II pledged that "the Administration is committed to providing [the disaster] assistance consistent with your legislative proposal by the end of the month." The White House says it can do so under a Depression-era law allowing tariff funds to be used for farm emergency payments.

 Will the amounts received by the agribusinesses be published?  Apparently, not.

Coincidentally—or not—the USDA has chosen this moment to stop publishing the names of farm subsidy recipients and how much they receive. As EWG (Environmental Working Group) puts it: "This policy effectively shields from disclosure subsidy benefits going to multiple, and often absentee, owners of large, agribusiness farming operations." The USDA says shutting down the data base will save money. Welcome to the new era of transparency in government.

According to the WSJ the insurance program has merit, and this raid will destroy the program.

If Mrs. Lincoln gets her $1.5 billion, the White House will have eviscerated the one laudable farm subsidy reform in years. Congress will revert to raiding the Treasury every year to enrich its wealthiest constituents. All of this in a last ditch, and probably futile, effort to help Mrs. Lincoln retain her Senate seat.

Tragically, this is politics as usual in DC.
Democracy and Power 103: The politician transfers money from productive people, to mostly favored special interest groups.

Or as Walter Williams states: Conservatives and liberals are kindred spirits as far as government spending is concerned. First, let's make sure we understand what government spending is. Since government has no resources of its own, and since there's no Tooth Fairy handing Congress the funds for the programs it enacts, we are forced to recognize that government spending is no less than the confiscation of one person's property to give it to another to whom it does not belong – in effect, legalized theft.

Well, there it is in a nutshell. Sen. Blanche Lincoln has been receiving Farm subsidies via her corporation for years. We reported about this three years ago. Under the Obama administration, she voted out of committee the infamous take over of the healthcare industry which establishes the forced purchasing of medical insurance by all Americans. Her reward, the Chairmanship of the Agriculture Committee. Subsequently, the USDA headed by an Obama appointee decides that they need to save money by reducing transparency (not farm subsidies) thereby stopping the reporting names of farm subsidy recipients and the amounts they receive. This action thus shields Sen. Blanche Lincoln from further disclosure of the farm subsidies she or her corporation(s). trusts or family and friends receive. 

Lincoln wants to be re-elected and even brags about her chairmanship of the Agriculture Committee as being good for Arkansas. Well, her prior membership on and her now chairmanship of the Senate AG Committee combined with selling out Arkansans has provided successful access to money and power for herself and her liberal elite friends. Lincoln has played Plantation Politics to hilt. It is time for Sen. Blanche Lincoln to receive the just rewards for abusing of power. It is time for her to be forced retired in November.

Unfortuantely, she will still be able to receive her already excessive Congressional retirement at her Virgina home. I have no doubt, there are already other plans for Lincoln. She played the game on the behalf of Big Government and limiting freedoms of Americans. Just a guess, but her buddies Clinton, Biden, Reid and Obama may even give her the key to Plantation Management Center - the USDA.

In conclusion, I leave you with this interesting items. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette which seldom offers negative comments about any democrat in office stated in a recent editorial: "What’s remarkable about Blanche Lincoln is not only her insatiable appetite for ever more perks for agribusiness - for any senator from a rural state like Arkansas might share it. What’s remarkable is her pose as a defender of the little guy as she prepares to turn her senatorial campaign into another exercise in class warfare against those evil grabby Republicans. It’s the hypocrisy of it that rankles most, not just the wretched excess."

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Tags: Blanche Lincoln, USDA, pork, farm subsidies, transparency, reduced transparency, Ag Committee, plantation politics, 2010 election To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Republican Women Transforming Southeastern Arkansas

Southeastern Arkansas Counties

Bill Smith, Editor: The Forth District of Arkansas has been considered Democrat territory especially during the last ten years of US. Rep. Mike Ross. Prior to Ross, there was a Republican Jay Dickey who served for 8 years. However, after 10 year of Mike Ross, who won re-election in 2010, the memory of Rep. Dickey has been almost erased. The control of most counties and state elected positions in the 4th district has been controlled by democrats. However, a majority of the democrats are conservative democrats unhappy with the progressive agenda of Democrats in both Little Rock and Washington, D.C.

In recent years, the 4th District has faced the challenges of declining population, increased unemployment, and increased poverty. Also, Arkansas Democrat political leaders have refused to lead in helping to tap the natural resources of the district that would transform the district.

Recent redistricting efforts by the Democrat controlled Arkansas legislature, has created a potential for a political shift in the 4th District. The Democrats appear to have "overplayed their hand" in an effort to weaken the Republican growth in the 1st District by taking some poor counties from the 3rd District and moving them to the 1st District. Then without any real logic, they moved more conservative population areas into the 4th District. This effort alone raised the economic standing of the overall 4th district by a few points but did not affect the lives of the people already in the district.

It is also interesting that a majority of the people in the 4th District have relatives or friends across the state lines especially in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Oklahoma. These states are now Republicans states politically supported by former conservative Democrats who have left the liberal progressive Democratic Party. Arkansas' 4th District is positioned to be transformed.

We have previously reported on the massive deposits of lignite coal that could transform the economy of the both the Southern and Eastern regions of Arkansas. Researchers have confirmed that Arkansas has at least four billion recoverable tons of lignite available and possibly as much as nine billion tons. Such a supply would last for generations into the future and help America reduce its dependence on foreign sources of energy. The following two articles about Arkansas lignite will detail the potential to bring economic benefits to the 4th and 1st Districts of Arkansas. Lignite, a Natural Opportunity for Arkansas - Also About Jobs for Arkansans and Reviving Arkansas’ Economy: Turning Brown Coal into Black Gold. With economic transformation comes ownership, wealth and political transformation.

The forth district has had several TEA Party efforts which have sent clear signals that they are tired of the democratic plantation politics controlling the counties in their district. For economic prosperity to be established for the citizens of the 4th District and for individuals to have more economic and political freedom, conservative values and free enterprise must be shared by all. Now another group of people have decided to partner to politically transform the southeastern region of the 4th district.

These people are the local Republican women in five counties in Southeast Arkansas. They have already been busy on the ground in their own counties leading and sharing conservative principles and Republican principles. There is an old saying among Republicans: wherever the conservative women are willing to go, the men will soon follow. These women decided to band together to form the Southeast Chapter of Republican Women and to affiliate with the Arkansas and National Federation of Republican Women. Also noted is that one of the counties is being relocated to the First Congressional District. And this partnership will also aid the Republicans in the 1st District.

Diana Harton is the Chair of the Drew County Republicans Committee. She shared the following details about the creation of the Southeast Arkansas Republican Women (SEARW):

"Julie Harris, President of the Arkansas Federation of Republican Women, came to Monticello on Tuesday May 3rd to help organize a chapter of Southeast Arkansas Republican Women. The Arkansas Federation was founded in 1948 and affiliated with the National Federation of Republican Woman in 1955. The Arkansas Federation has sponsored campaign management schools and training for poll watchers and workers. Community service projects have included donating money to the state’s World War II Memorial, sponsoring literacy programs and essay contests for school children, awarding two scholarships each year to high school seniors, and raising funds to support battered women and children and cancer research. The five Southeast Arkansas counties included in this chapter are Drew, Lincoln, Bradley, Desha and Ashley.

"Elections were held for the SEARW and Andrea Huskey was elected Chapter President; Jan McLemore, 1st Vice President; Jennifer Jenkins, 2nd Vice President; Susan McGlaughlin, Secretary and Brandi Williams, Treasurer. The new group invites everyone to join them on the first Tuesday of every month at 6 p.m. at the Drew County Republican Headquarters located at 304 North Main Street in Monticello. For more information e-mail searw@drewcountygop.org or call 870/723-7167 or 870/723-5701."

Many of our readers outside of Arkansas enjoy hearing about Arkansas. In fact, many people across America share an "Arkansas connection." As liberty loving conservatives, we wish the residents of Arkansas 4th district well.  We congratulate the Republican women of Drew, Lincoln, Bradley, Desha and Ashley and wish them the best in their new joint venture. We also look forward to future reports on the economic development of Arkansas 4th District and the election of a Republican to the US House in 2012.

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Tags: Arkansas, 4th Congressional District, Republican Women, counties, Drew, Lincoln, Bradley, Desha, Ashley. To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!

Arkansas Bureaucrat Appear To See No Way to Cut Taxes or Expenses

Arkansas Spending Revolt Bus Tour

Bill Smith, Editor: Today, Andrew DeMillo reported:

A lower-than-expected amount of tax refunds and a boost in individual income tax collections helped keep Arkansas' revenues above last year's figures and expectations, the state finance office said Wednesday.

The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration [DFA] said that the state's net available revenues in January totaled $459.8 million, which were $19.7 million above last year and $4.4 million above forecast. The state's gross general revenues totaled $529.9 million, which was above last year by $4.6 million but below forecast by $15.2 million, but the drop in individual and corporate tax refunds kept the state's coffers healthy, the department said.

A follow-up to DFA confirmed that DFA Director Richard Weiss told the media:

I think it shows that we're still growing. This whole recovery for us and everyone in the nation has been rocky. There's not been a smooth increase or a surge upward, but I think we're still on a good trajectory, if you will, of getting out of the recession and getting the economy back on track.

Director Weiss, a typical bureaucrat, doesn't see any room for future tax cuts because he obviously can't imagine government cutting the size of government. Fortunately, the republicans do! Weiss of course is supporting Gov. Mike Beebe proposed roll back of another half-cent cut in the grocery tax which supposedly according to the bureaucrats would cost about $15 million in general revenue. It continues to amaze most of "We the People" that government has the audacity to identify as a "cost" both their spending and reductions in taxation. This is perverted application of modern government accounting that was not an accepted government accounting practice before the 1971 when I completed a business degree with 29 credit hours of accounting.

Republican legislators are seeking to roll back spending increases in Beebe's proposed $4.6 billion budget for the coming year, including $23 million for a cost-of-living increase for state workers, to pay for other proposed tax cuts including reductions in the used car and capital gains taxes.

Data provided by Arkansas DFA:

• Net available revenues for the current fiscal year (July 1, 2010 June 30, 2011), total $2.7 billion and are $7.9 million above forecast.
• Individual income tax collection as of January 2011 totaled $311 million and was $28.9 million above last year and $5.9 million more than originally forecast.
• Sales tax collections for January 2011 totaled $173.9 million which was $5.5 million below last year and $9 million below forecast.
• Corporate income tax collections totaled $11.6 million which was $21.1 million below last year and $11 million below forecast.

Based on the above general numbers, it is imperative that Arkansas Government need to be cut! Also, other practice of plantation politics like big dinners for Fish and Game commissioners and gifts to members of new guns and life-time fishing and hunting licenses need to be stopped. If members of oversight committees do not wish to serve on unpaid commission, decline the acceptance of the appointment. [And, it does not matter who is paying for these "gifts."]

There are also numerous other "tradition and practices" in Arkansas that need to cease. These "traditions and practices" reach into almost all branches of Arkansas government, agencies, and government. Fleecing of money from people needs to be stopped even if it appears inconsequential. Spending other people's money (OPM) is always consequential.

As promised before, there will be no free passes for "traditions and practices" costing Arkansas taxpayers. Numbers don't lie, but unfortunately liars, bureaucrats and politicians use numbers to support lies and their deceptions.

It is time for Arkansans, "We The People", to demand that Gov. Mike Beebe as the "head of government" provide ways to cut (not increase) government expenses by 20% in the two years. We should expect for him to locate and eliminate all gravy "tradition and practice" items / issues but he must find meaningful cuts in spending expenses NOT increase in revenue. And, we must demand that all the other Constitutional Officers and independent agencies cooperate in reducing "spending" cost. And if we have revenue surpluses, "cut taxes" or returned the surplus to the citizens and corporations that paid those taxes.

If these elected officials will not cooperate, they have failed in their duties. The legislature should aid then by unilaterally cutting their budgets. And for those Democrats, or even Republicans, in the legislature do not cooperate, expect defeat or in 21 months in the next election.

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Tags: Arkansas, government spending, taxes, DFA, plantation politics, traditions, practices, waste, taxpayers money, Department of Finance and Administration, commissions To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!